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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

In the biggest postseason upset in the region thus far, Northeast A League top seed Deer Park and its high-powered offense was unable to get past Freeman in the the opening round of the district playoffs. A one goal lead was not enough as the Scotties, via the heroics of their two goalkeepers, equalized on a free kick and ultimately advanced in a tiebreaker shootout after finishing in a 1-1 stalemate.

Meanwhile, Lakeside topped Medical Lake 3-1 to move on to the NEA final.

In the final week of play in the Columbia Basin Big Nine, the Wenatchee Panthers won a tight contest Tuesday with Eastmont that left the Wildcats vulnerable going into the final night of the regular season Thursday. If things play out the way they should on paper in the final games Thursday (see schedule & table below), Moses Lake would take the third seed and Eastmont and Davis would be tied with the fourth seed going to tiebreakers. Davis swept the season series between the two with 3-2 (shootout) and 1-0 wins. The other contests Tuesday went as expected with Davis winning at Sunnyside and Moses Lake rolling against Eisenhower.

Also in central Washington, Ephrata and Othello won as expected to create a semifinal bracket with the top four teams, which all finished even in the regular season table at 7-2. The winners from the games at Ellensburg and Selah on Thursday will move onto the district championship and state tournament with the losers moving forward to square off in a seeding match that will pair them up with the top finalists of the Great Northern League tournament.

Here's a look around the action from Tuesday...

1A PLAYOFFS (NEA) #####

Freeman (4) 1-1 (3) SO Deer Park: The top seed Stags struggled throughout the match to find any offensive rhythm or long series of possession as the Scotties continually stepped to the ball. It looked like they broke through, though, in the 35th minute when a ball was blocked and deflected several times in the box before coming to Courtney Stark for a finish from about 10 yards.

Deer Park continued in the second half to have the edge in possession at the attacking end, but a 30-yard free kick changed everything around the 65th minute when midfielder Cassidy Crosswhite, one of the team's two goalkeepers, sent a floater from the right touchline over goalkeeper Rowenna Nelson and into the far side netting. Despite numerous forays into the box, Deer Park was unable to capitalize through the rest of regulation and overtime, sending the contest to a shootout.

The first three shooters each converted their shots in the tiebreaker. Freeman keeper Hannah Pylant dove to her right to deny Lily Pierce in the fourth round, but scoring hero Crosswhite then saw her attempt denied by Nelson. Deer Park's Oaklie Nichols then sent her fifth round attempt high and down the middle, but Pylant reached up and tipped it off the crossbar for the save, allowing Claire Love to convert for the winning tally on the final shot.

Medical Lake 1-3 Lakeside: Hannah Mitchell scored 12 minutes into the contest and Lexi Torok doubled the lead just a minute later on a ball from Alyssa Figy. Makayla Geiger answered in the 18th to keep the Cardinals close, but Figy scored one of her own on a ball from Kayleigh Talbott in the 24th. From there Payton Williams kept the visitors off the board, finishing with 11 saves in the win, advancing to the district final against fourth seed Freeman and ensuring a spot in the multi-region crossover games against SCAC sides for the right to go to the state tournament.

2A PLAYOFFS (CWAC) #####

Grandview 2-5 Ephrata: The hosts grabbed the lead three minutes in courtesy of Mya Spencer and pushed the advantage to three with back-to-back goals from Katelyn Ostrowski. It was five before the break for the Tigers with Amidy Gallagher and Christa Crago adding goals. Grandview struck twice in the second half, one coming from Aressa Trevino. Ephrata advances to play Ellensburg.

Prosser 1-3 Othello: Nikki Velazquez set up the opener by Tori Cantu 14 minutes in and the pair reversed roles six minutes later to double the lead for the Huskies. Jamie Fassler pulled the Mustangs back within one in the 25th, but Velazquez added some insurance seven minutes into the second for the hosts, who advance to play top seed Selah.

CBBN REGULAR SEASON #####

Davis 2-0 Sunnyside: Davis picked up a key win to position themselves for a possibly postseason berth with goals from Alyza Palma and Taty Aills. Cerenity Lopez set up the opener in the 20th and Brianna Garfias helped double the advantage two minutes before the break. Eliza Berman made four saves for the shutout on the road.

Moses Lake 4-0 Eisenhower: Abby Rathbun scored all for goals for the Chiefs, tallying twice in each half.

Eastmont 0 :: 1 Wenatchee: Locked in a scoreless stalemate, the Panthers snared the victory in stoppage time when Jaden Griggs beat the offside trap by the visitors to score the deciding goal.